The Corporate Report

Discussion paper

The Corporate Report
The full text of the discussion paper, as published in July 1975.

The paper contains the following chapters:

Part I: Concepts and aims

• Section 1: Our basic philosophy
• Section 2: Users and their information needs
• Section 3: The objective of corporate reports
• Section 4: Review of the present state of corporate reporting

Part II: Measurement and method

• Section 5: Communication, publication, frequency and distribution
• Section 6: The scope and content of corporare reports
• Section 7: Concepts and measurements in financial statements

Part III: Summary

• Section 8: Summary of this discussion paper

Appendices

• Suggested tests of economic significance
• The contents of corporate reports
• Example employment report
• Survey of business objectives: analysis of results
• Assessment of measurement bases
• Suggestions for further research
• Individuals and organisations contributing, views and ideas

Related material

The Library holds a number of items following up on The Corporate Report.

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans.

The Corporate Report: comments received
Collection of comments on the discussion paper from accountancy bodies, companies, practising firms, individuals, academics, and technical advisory committees. Includes written submissions from the Bank of England, the Confederation of British Industry and the Department of Trade.

The Corporate Report: where to from here?
Text of a 1975 lecture from Derek Boothman FCA for the Joint Advisory Committee on University Accountancy Studies. The lecture expands on the recommendations made in The Corporate Report. Mr Boothman describes The Corporate Report as "the starting point for an important debate on the theory and practice of modern financial accounting".
The lecture was also printed in The Accountant on 25 March 1976.

Accountancy in the furnace of its afflictions
Text of a 1976 lecture from Professor Edward Stamp, Director of the International Centre for Research in Accounting. Professor Stamp was a co-author of The Corporate Report and he reflects on the responses to the discussion paper in the context of a wider debate about the condition of the accountancy profession in the UK.
The lecture was also printed in The Accountant on 25 March 1976.

The Corporate Report and the future programme of ASC
Response from the Accounting Standards Committee to the points and proposals submitted in The Corporate Report. While it does not endorse every recommendation, the ASC calls The Corporate Report "a major contribution to the development of thinking and practice relating to corporate reports and the financial reports which they contain".
Published in 1976 as ICAEW Technical Release 188. 

The Corporate Report: an academic view
A collection of papers submitted by academic accountants to the ICAEW working party responsible for reviewing financial reports. Published in 1976.

The private shareholder and the corporate report
A report to the ICAEW Research Committee by T.A. Lee and D.P. Tweedie of the University of Edinburgh, published in 1977. The monograph looks at the ways in which private shareholders use (or fail to use) financial reports, and how the situation might be improved. It is supported by findings from an ICAEW research project on the subject.